I liked this more than High Plains Drifter. Here Clint was playing a character you could like and was easily more relatable. The role struck me as having a similar type character to Liam Neeson's in Taken.
Joe apparently had retired from a life of tracking and hunting and killing. He seemed to take to just living one day at a time and at his own pace regardless of the law. He took one a type of Otis from the Andy Griffith show as well.

But then, something happens to people he cares about and he reassumes the mantle of badass to make amends.